Alcohol and substance use prevention in Africa

Substance use continues to be a key public health concern in Africa. Despite this, there have been few reviews that have examined the current research on the subject. This study examines the existing research on the prevention of alcohol and substance use in Africa.

The specific objectives were to: 

1. Identify drugs and substances used across Africa

2. Identify risk and protective factors that contribute to alcohol and substance use as a public health problem in Africa

3. Classify prevention strategies used in preventing alcohol and substance use in Africa

The authors conducted a scoping review in order to gather and examine the current literature.

Findings

• a variety of substances are used across the African continent including but not limited to alcohol, tobacco, methamphetamine, glue, cigarettes, miraa, marijuana, petrol as well as other injecting drugs.
• Findings from the studies conducted in the Southern African region have shown that Methamphetamine and its related products are predominantly used
• Particularly vulnerable groups include people living with HIV, high school students, male injecting drug users, and street children.
• Prevention interventions currently used are individual-based interventions, family-based interventions, school-based interventions, workplace-based interventions, environmental-based interventions, media-based interventions, as well as community-based prevention interventions.

The authors recommend that further research is needed in order to examine the effectiveness of prevention interventions and tailor support for particularly vulnerable groups.